The PYA was invited by the Italian Trade Agency and the city of Genova, through Genova For Yachting, to attend the Ocean Race Grand Finale in Genoa, 10 days ago.

The Ocean Race, formerly known as the Whitbread Round the World Race, is an iconic and prestigious sailing event that tests the teams like no other. It is said to be the longest and toughest professional sporting event in the world. Sailors circumnavigate the planet and this year’s edition of the race started from Alicante, Spain on January 15th 2023 and ended in Genoa, Italy on 1st July 2023.

The 11th Hour Racing Team won with 29 points. Congratulations to skipper Charlie Enright and his team for all their hard work and dedication.

The program for guests included visiting shipyards such as AMICO, Sangiorgio Marine and Tankoa.

It was the perfect occasion to meet captains, crew and companies from all over the world and we had some very meaningful conversations about the yachting industry. Two of the big themes from this year’s event were crew retention and education. With many companies seeking professional crews, there’s a big need for the industry to improve working conditions and the welfare of all crew members.

We also discussed current crew issues with Captain Theodoros Antonellos, a member of the Hellenic Yacht Masters Club, which gave us additional insights into the current state of the industry, and we look forward to working more closely together in the near future.

We want to say a big thank you to the city of Genova for hosting us at such an incredible event. See some highlights below from our visit to this year’s event.